


HLVRAI AU

by dino_friends_personal_space



Category: Half-Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: AU, Angst?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:54:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24929500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dino_friends_personal_space/pseuds/dino_friends_personal_space
Summary: I suck at writing titles but basically HLVRAI except I forget Frozen's name/existence and Tommy has a mental breakdown. Everything turns out okay though. Best part is at the end so skip to the last chapter for peak ideal viewing experience.
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

The guard, Benrey, followed Gordon around like a lost puppy. Except, this guard couldn't do anything but ask for his passport. The security guard managed to hinder Gordon multiple times by simply putting their hand on the wall to block Gordon's path.

"Passport, now" Benrey said which Gordon promptly ignored, swatting Benrey's hand away. When Gordon asked Benrey why they were allowed in this place without an HEV suit, Benrey jumped down an elevator, claiming they weren't human and didn't need protection. Gordon later met some other scientists in the facility, a soda-loving scientist named Tommy and two other scientists--one named Bubby and Dr. Coomer. Dr. Coomer, despite his large size and his even larger snow-white mustache, went into the computer to fix it. Bubby, the lengthy one in the light blue polo and glasses, let Benery enter simply because they had their passport. Gordon advised against this. Regardless, Benrey followed him into the testing room, without any hazmat suit or protection of any kind. Benrey told Gordon not to steal anything and later after getting stuck on the top of a ladder was caught by Gordon. Despite the scientist bidding him well, the test still went wrong and a major explosion occurred. The voice still rang in Gordon's head.

"Bro, don't steal anything! Where's your passport?"

Gordon opened his eyes and surveyed the wreckage. He probably had radiation poisoning from the blast but the security guard without a HEV suit seemed unfazed, not even angry. Gordon looked up and left the area to the blood coated science room. Tommy looked at Gordon and the scientist next to the security guard burst into flames. What?

Regardless, with a voice confused and angry, Gordon asked them their names and continued onwards. Bubby stood next to the laser claiming that he was safe because he had his "passport". Gordon continued onwards and saw the annoying guard sitting on a box too close to a laser before getting hit by it in the head.

"OOOWWWWW" The guard complained, hopping backwards, looking fine before spouting out colorful balls turning blue to purple.

"How the fuck did he survive? That was at least 100 watts!" Gordon said, partly scarred.

"Standard black mesa helmets" Dr. Coomer claimed proudly. Tommy was able to understand the orbs and promptly translated it. Afterwards, they continued and came in contact with another group of scientists. There were gunshots heard.

"What the HELL?" Gordon yelled, turning to the unfazed security guard.

"Yo, did you just kill that guy?" Benrey asked, crouching down over the other security guard's body as Dr. Coomer started punching it.

"What? No, you did!" Gordon said, getting annoyed. Everyone they came across had been killed before they were able to extract even a bit of information from them "Hey, since you know these security guys so well, what was he going to say?"

Benrey looked back at Gordon in compliance and turned toward the body making slurping sounds which Gordon could only assume Benrey was trying to eat it! Or at least taste it.

"Hey, cut that out" Gordon said "Don't lick the body! What was he going to say?"

"Uhhh" Benery said, turning toward Gordon. "security"

Gordon groaned and gave up the lost cause. He ushered the group of scientists to the other room and after a while took a break around a soda machine. Since they were now technically his "partners in crime", he decided to ask them questions about their life. Dr. Coomer lost his wife in the divorce. Tommy hyperactivity explained his love for soda, even going so far to name his "immortal" dog, Sunkist, after a soda. Poor kid--well not necessarily kid, Tommy was 36 yet he still acted as a child--was an orphan. He gave up learning about the others and continued on. Dr. Coomer seemed to end his life at least twice but always managed to return unscaved. The others did little to help fight against those attacking them and instead sought to kill the others they came across. Eventually, they came to another soda machine and took another break for the day. They sat in a circle to discuss future happenings. Gordon turned to Tommy and asked him if he ever handled a gun. Tommy seemed confused and asked if he should shoot the pigeon next to them. Gordon wasn't sure where the pigeon came from but he just wanted Tommy to practice. He realized from the turret room that Tommy was the least armed person in the group. Eventually, Benrey came and shot the pigeon and started singing, releasing orbs through the black mesa sweet voice. Tommy read the meaning of the orbs, knowing well what they meant. They continued on to the next room, meeting less and less other people and more and more mutants. Tommy ran into the next room and pretty much obliterated all the creatures in the corner.

"Tommy's on fire!" Gordon said, impressed. Next to him, Dr. Coomer ran and punched some explosive boxes. Well, Tommy wasn't on fire, literally, Dr. Coomer was.

"Do you need new glasses, Gordon?" Bubby said, "Dr. Coomer is the one on fire"

"Mr. Freeman, I'm scared," the blood coated Tommy said, pointing the gun towards Gordon when Gordon approached him. "This is all instinct!"

"Don't point your gun at my head when you're talking to me, kid" Gordon said softly, wiping a bit of the blood off Tommy's face. It didn't do much because the blood stained Tommy's hands and white lab coat.

"I'm not. I know that! I'm not a kid!" Tommy replied.The group continued on with Dr. Coomer and Bubby getting trapped and choked by the alien lifeforms they mistook as ropes. They continue traversing through the disaster ruined rooms, traveling on pipes and into locker rooms, killing every living being in a 2 mile radius besides the small group itself. Oddly enough, Benrey kept relatively quiet for this time, only occasionally whispering to Bubby. Knowing Benrey's demeanor, they were most likely insulting Gordon. Eventually, they arrived at a server room and Benrey sat on the table with the globe display. Benrey claimed that they were going to add Gordon's death and memoir to the wikipedia article "all dogs go to heaven 2" despite the fact he was alive and semi-well. The scientists kept singing the wikipedia catchphrase theme along with an article from the website itself. They killed more unspeakable creatures which Gordon nearly had a heart attack from. Tommy chirped cheerfully after them "When we get outta here, I'm gonna write the wikipedia article for the thing we just killed!", flashing a smile. Benrey leaned in and gave Tommy a small smooch on the cheek as a "good job" while Tommy said this causing Tommy to flush gold in pride.

Eventually, they traversed to another room which was also titled the wikipedia room. Benrey clarified that it was the "body" and hosted all the servers. Eventually, Bubby started destroying the servers claiming that there was too much knowledge in the world and Dr. Coomer concluded the unspeakable disaster by stating that no one will ever edit it again. Gordon, his mind fried from the logic these men of science had, continued on, angry and confused. They traversed to the heart of the facility which hosted a nuclear power system which contained several tons of green sludge and mutated creatures around. Gordon was assured by Tommy that everything was kept up to code according to the handbook which he memorized, even the mutated nuclear creatures! Eventually, chaos ensued and Gordon found himself at the bottom of a large concrete cavern with green radioactive waste at the bottom. Benrey showed up next to him. Gordon got frustrated asking Benrey if they were going to tell him he wasn't supposed to be down here. Benrey nonchalantly confirmed and apologized stating that neither of them were supposed to be down here and that they both fucked up. Benrey seemed to die and fell lifeless into the toxic sludge but Gordon knew they would be back. Gordon sighed and managed to get out of the situation using ropes. Continuing on with little to stop them, they eventually passed a small room that Benrey claimed had a really cool tv and couch to crash on. Gordon was slightly weird out by the demeanor Benrey seemed to have but decided he was too tired to follow their aimless logic.

As the group entered the room the light went off. The tension skyrocketed and Tommy yelled out claiming he couldn't see. Benrey led them in a trap, that asshole! He caught a glimpse of Benrey's helmet, slightly shining from the lights which reflected off of their eyes. Probably from the black mesa sweet voice orbs? Gordon hurt another call from Tommy and turned toward the location of the voice, seeing two yellow orbs before getting knocked out.

"Quick" Dr. Coomer called out "Grab his arm!"


	2. Chapter 2

Gordon woke up with Dr. Coomer and Tommy crouched around him. He looked around, seeing that they were in a place full of radioactive green sludge.

"Where am I?" Gordon asked, confused.

"We dragged you, Mr. Freeman," Tommy said.

"What happened?" Gordon said "Where's Benrey?!"

"Gordon, your arm is missing," Dr. Coomer stated. Gordon looked at his hand and felt the rush of pain. His face went numb as he looked at the stub, dripping the red liquid.

"Oh no, how are you going to do your taxes?" Tommy asked, quite concerned. Gordon was in quite dismay of his missing limb.

"Where's Benrey?" Gordon asked, even angrier. "Where's Bubby?"

"I heard them whispering before. Must have figured that they were planning something" Dr. Coomer said.

"If it makes you feel better, Mr. Freeman, I didn't like that hand anyways" Tommy said, trying to comfort the disgruntled and disenfranchised Freeman. Gordon decided to continue on, completely helpless and at the hands of his associates. Gordon felt that Benrey was going to pop up besides him any second and he was going to strangle that fucker to death with his bare hands--or hand. Instead, Gordon got a surprising array of Dr. Coomer clones which Tommy presently killed. They kept whispering strange words at him, claiming that he was the only one with a way out. They sounded desperate and the words that Dr. Coomer felt all the pain the clones did echoed in Gordon's head.

Gordon finally found Bubby who was yelling about how they stuck him back in his tube where he was originally test grown. Gordon preferred to keep him there for betraying them but Dr. Coomer eventually convinced them that what Bubby was saying was true. They let him come along. Eventually, Gordon finally came across Benrey who flashed him with a passport and asked him if he had one. Gordon said no and continued on, the helmet headed annoyance still following him to the cybernetic room. It was replaced by the mixology science room but the guy there was nice enough to give Gordon a new "hand" through drinking the potion mixture. Benrey made a mess of the place, messing with the computer by downloading more RAM and stating that Gordon knew how to suck. This hand was instead a machine gun. As a parting gift, the guy allowed the team to receive sovinvers of their own, earning Bubby "the big one" and Tommy a befitting hat.

The group further travelled to a reservoir stream full of water mixed with light blue gatorade. Benrey tried to kiss Gordon. When Gordon tried to question as to what Benrey was doing Benrey coughed and said "huh, what?" in a monotone voice, allowing some pink orbs from the black mesa sweet voice to incidentally slip out. Tommy pointed out what it meant but before he was able to say anything, Benrey quickly covered Tommy's mouth. Sometimes, Tommy could understand Benrey a little too well. Dr. Coomer and Bubby claimed that Benrey would have to kiss him after the test. Suddenly, the military started attacking them and they basically killed the entire United States military. Benrey tried to get some of Gordon's feet pics using a scanner. Gordon hit Benrey off the side of the cliff but still, Benrey came back. After bypassing an atomic bomb dropping, they decided to take a break and sleep. Gordon still saw the skeleton only visible to him and Benrey it seemed because Benrey moved out of the way to make way for the skeleton.

"Aren't you going to go to sleep?" Gordon asked as Benrey sat over him, staring. "Or are you gonna watch me sleep?"

"Hah" Benrey gawffed "that would be gay"

When the journey resumed, the team of heavily armed scientists came across a man who was presumed to be the last member from the United States military.

"Who are you?" Gordon demanded. The man explained he was the last one from team Nice, an elite military team. Benrey claimed that the man was the only one on the team in the first place. The man from team Nice claimed that he was Benrey's friend but Benrey denied this. After trying to convince them to leave him alone by offering beyblades, the army man finally let some precious intel slip--Benrey knew the way out. Benrey denied this by saying not to listen to him, claiming that the army man didn't know what he was talking about and promptly shot the army man dead.

After entering a room where Tommy's immortal dog, Sunkist, was held captive and finally released the team made it up to a landing and traveled to a room with several portals and teleporters. In pressing a button, the room started to rumble and a large cavity opened in the floor causing the group to fall through into an endless pit. Gordon, quick to thinking and having the ability to do things normal people could not due to his HEV suit, managed to land on a ledge which was from another floor. He stuck his arm out to try to at least catch someone. Gordon had a presumption that everyone would come back okay and unscaved judging how Dr. Coomer and Bubby tended to come back from basically unsurvivable situations. Gordon looked down to see who he had grabbed and lo-and-behold, it was Benrey, the one always closest and clinging to him.

"Oh shit" Benrey said in shock "You saved me"

Gordon said nothing.

"Little bit gay don'tcha think lover boy?"

"You insufferable bitch. I have half the mind to drop you and your worthless ass" Gordon said, slightly losing his grip. He didn't want Benrey here because they literally took his hand. Benrey said nothing and finally Gordon pulled him up.

"You couldn't have not taken so long, bro" Benrey said, rubbing their wrist. Gordon had hoped it would have been someone better and actually responsible like Tommy but you can't choose who you lose. Besides, Benrey knew the way out of the labyrinth and the team would eventually find him so it would be good to get ahead. Gordon just hoped the others were okay relatively. He knew Dr. Coomer said that he could feel the pain of all his past lives. They'll be fine, Gordon reasoned. Besides, it would be faster to continue onwards instead of waiting for them.

"Take me to the exit" Gordon demanded.

"Huh, what?" Benrey asked "I don't know what you're talking about"

Gordon glared at them and got up, heading towards the portals.

"Hey, wait, aren't you gonna wait for them" Benrey asked, peering over the edge of the pit.

"Why would you care?" Gordon said, continuing on. Benrey hesitated for a moment and trailed behind Gordon. Gordon ignored them. Stepping through a portal with green flames surrounding the border, he was suddenly transported to a hellish landscape with large skittering objects concealed by the darkness. He looked down and saw the bodies of Dr. Coomer and Bubby crawling towards him on the ground frantically and inhumanly. No one was besides, not even Benrey, and he was all alone. He would have even liked Benrey's company at this time. Gordon yelled and backed up hyperventilating. He quickly ran and backed out of the portal. Gordon fell back and skittered away from the portal which then faded and vanished. He would have to try the teleporters. Finally, Gordon was teleported to another place with floating islands that seemed to be out of the black mesa facility. Despite this, he sighed in relief seeing a familiar lab-coated scientist seated at the edge of the small floating rock he was on.


	3. Chapter 3

"Dr. Coomer, where are we?" Gordon asked

"Hello, Gordon," Dr. Coomer replied in a chipper tone, his original catchphrase.

Gordon looked out into the wide abyss and Benrey came out of nowhere. However, this wasn't simply Benrey, no the fact it was Benrey was the least of his concerns. The Benrey he knew now manifested into a large version of himself and floated towards Gordon.

"Holy CRAP" Gordon yelled, backing up.

"Yep, I'm big now" Benrey said, hovering over Gordon and giving him a large, sharp smile. The lighting of the area caused Benrey's helmet to shade the area around his eyes which glowed slightly. They were inhuman. "Uhhh, hug?"

"What? No!"

"Wanna kiss?" Benrey said, crossing their arms and leaning them on the floating island to get closer to Gordon.

"No!" Gordon yelled, running away and jumping onto another floating island. Dr. Coomer followed him hot on his heels.

"Okay, just hide" Gordon whispered loudly, trying to hide behind the column to the main floating island. It was no use and Benrey came towards them with a camera in their hands, snapping photos of them.

"This is going in my cringe comp" Benrey said, chuckling. They hid in a cavern with pots and found Bubby. Eventually, after coming into contact with several creatures, one in which Dr. Coomer described as the "biggest tit I've ever seen" to which Bubby corrected it as a "nab" to which Dr. Coomer said "biggest nab' I've ever seen". They continued on, running from Benrey and eventually came to a room which looked like it had rows and rows of servers.

"Hey, you're in my hacks" Benrey complained, manifesting through the wall and spazzing out with body parts rapidly shrinking and growing with every movement Benrey made. It was absolutely terrifying, with Benrey seeming to lag and leave bodily features such as eyes and mouths floating in the air around them. The science team ran out and found a cavern with green goop Bubby claimed he was allergic to. Despite this, they ate it because it tasted like gatorade Benrey manifested through the wall again, surprising Gordon who fell into the larger pool of the gatorade tasting green goop.

Gordon swam up and ended up coming to the surface of a large pool with red lighting which colored the liquid to a crimson color. Gordon looked around and saw the two scientists behind him. Tommy was taking a bit longer to come back and Gordon was beginning to doubt he would ever come back. However, that wasn't his main concern now since the large head of Benrey clipped through the ground and rested in the liquid. The head still had several glitches and did not respond to any of the bullets Gordon shot at them.

"Bro, stop shooting at me or else I'm gonna have to shoot back. Are you shooting because you're jealous of my cheats? Yo, if you stop I'll give you some and we'll be friends again?" Benrey started but eventually resorted to using their black mesa sweet voice which began wrapping the group in cocoons to stop them from shooting. They swatted them away.

"Benrey" Gordon started "why the fuck are you doing this?"

"Bro, like I was trying to help you. Yo dick was out and I was trying to be nice and tell you but you didn't listen. I was going to go home and play PSN with my friend, jefferem, after our shift but then you come here dick out and say stuff like you don't have your passport and he has anger issues..."

"What the fuck does this have to do with anything?" Gordon asked, frustrated. Benrey moved closer and tilted their head which was terrifying because the lag caused the prior head to remain making it seem like Benrey had multiple heads, all smiling at Gordon.

"...Like, we were friends, don't you remember? We used to play in the mud and stuff but then you come out here with your dick out, like bro, I have all my friends around me and all the friends I met online. So, I was trying to tell you you got a dick slip and be nice but you didn't and you were mean so you forced me to be bad and now I'm gonna be baaaaaddddd..." Benrey said, turning his smile into a growl.

"If I got you my passport would you be happy?" Gordon interrupted. Benrey looked at him in surprise.

"Uh, now we can see the great plot unravelling..." Benrey awkwardly choked out before Gordon turned to Dr. Coomer and asked for a way to send him back. Dr. Coomer pulled out a portal gun and promptly sent Gordon back. The facility was empty until Benrey's giant head manifested itself through the ground, scaring Gordon.

"Uhh, what are you doing" Benrey asked

"Just on my way to the testing chamber...yep, just doing normal black mesa testing things" Gordon said, backing up. Benrey moved forwards and smiled, slightly glitching.

"Lol bro, you wanna die?" Benrey said. Gordon swore profusely and ran away towards the lockers. Benrey called after him. "Wanna kiss? Yo, I'm just joking. Uh, maybe not about the second part..."

Gordon came across Dr. Coomer at the lockers.

"Hello Gordon" Dr. Coomer said, oblivious to the situation "another day, another dollar!"

It was clear that Dr. Coomer did not remember anything. Gordon attempted to remind him of the whole situation. Dr. Coomer had a blank smile on his face before gravely saying, "I remember". Gordon sighed, glad to see the old scientist back to his old self and went to his locker to grab his passport. Benrey looked at Gordon from the crack of the door, his large, glowing eye filling up the majority of the door frame.

"See? I got your passport" Gordon said "Are you happy now? Are you gonna show me out now?"

"Well, no,, bro" Benrey started.

"What the hell do you mean by 'no'?" Gordon demanded

"Well like" Benrey said "You were, like, supposed to get mad and turn on the hacks but like not so mad you try to kill me, bro. Like, we were friends and you were gonna play PS4 with me and not leave"

"So, you knew the way out of here the whole time?"

"Yeah, but I was gonna be nice and help you but you weren't and you didn't turn on hacks so I didn't help you and you needed my help"

"So, you trapped me here?!"

"But, we were friends so it is okay since we're gonna play PSN since I have a month free now and I got the new Heavenly Sword"

"Fuck you," Gordon ended, turning to Dr. Coomer who came to full realization of what this is. "Get me back to there so I can kill them"

Dr. Coomer obliged and opened the door to the bathroom stall creating a portal. They were zapped back to the other timeline with the passport present. Benrey looked at Gordon with tired and despondent eyes. Gordon ripped the passport and turned to the others signaling they do the same. There was only a single passport left--Tommy's. Gordon looked around and spotted the normally spontaneous man crumpled in the corner.

"Tommy, I'm glad you're back" Gordon said, moving towards him

"Gordon, I'm scared" Tommy started, startled, and started again in a loop "Gordon- Gordon- Gord-"

"Holy crap, what's wrong with him?" Gordon asked, growing concerned for the youngest scientist. Tommy started to glitch out and spontaneously stretch and shrink his exterior limbs into sharp triangular shapes.

"Gordon, it is not nice to insult Tommy because of his hat," Bubby said, not seeing any of these glitches. There was a loud splashed and Benrey sat on the ground now normal human sized.

"Hey, my hacks are gone" Benrey said, stunned.

"What's wrong with you, buddy?" Gordon asked Tommy, who was now clutching his head in pain and rocking back and forth, leaving lag of parts of his face behind. The place they were in wasn't anything like rectangular, orderly and normal halls of the facility and Tommy wasn't even sure why they were there. It was completely different and there wasn't anything resembling the facility, not even pots.

"Tommy isn't human either" Benrey started, approaching the group. Gordon shot at Benrey to signal that they should stay back.

"Kid, don't listen to Benrey, you'll be fine okay?" Gordon said to Tommy who was still stuttering the phrases 'Gordon, I'm scared' like a broken record.

"Bro, just shut up," Benrey said to Gordon, materializing besides Gordon. "Fuckin' idiot feetman" 

Gordon gave Benrey a glare but refused to shoot him in front of Tommy. Benrey then started singing in their black mesa sweet voice to calm Tommy down. It seemed to work since the glitching went down and Tommy's erratic motion slowed. Benrey stopped and looked at Gordon smuggly. Tommy noticed Gordon.

Gunshots were heard and Bubby tacked Gordon to the ground.

"Bubby, what the fuck?-" Gordon started before noting the smoke gun Tommy held. Tommy now stood upright in a defensive stance with the gun pointed at Gordon. Tommy, his face flushed yellow from anger, stood relatively still despite a bit of glitching which moved the point of his limbs slightly.

"It hurt so bad, Mr. Freeman" Tommy said

"What did?"

"I died. And you let me!" Tommy growled, growing larger and shifting the small handheld pistol into a multi bullet machine gun with a laser charger in the center. Tommy shot at Gordon and Benrey quickly started frantically yelling in their black mesa sweet voice while running towards Gordon to provide at least somewhat of a shield. It semi worked and the two were blown backwards into a wall. "You didn't even try, didn't even try to help us!"

"Holy Crap, what the fuck?" Gordon said, sitting up as a bit of the wall crumbled on him. Benrey didn't move from his lap so Gordon pushed them off and stood up. "What do we do?"

"Don't worry Gordon!" Dr. Coomer started "Bubby and I will hold him off. Don't fuck with the science team!"

"You need to find something to sooth Tommy," Bubby said, shooting the gun into the ceiling.

"Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit" Gordon yelled, running away from the situation to figure out what the hell he should do.


	4. Chapter 4

After getting sufficiently away from the situation, Gordon pressed his back against a wall and slid down, racking his brain to figure out how exactly to sooth Tommy. Soda? What else did Tommy like? Why was Tommy attacking him?

"Gonna cry, straight guy?" Benrey said, looking down on Gordon. With no response, Benrey stepped back and sat besides Gordon. Gordon looked away, trying to ignore Benrey's presence.

"Tommy also not human, idiot" Benrey stated "And he's mad at you"

"Yeah, I think it's pretty obvious now," Gordon said. The two sat in silence before Gordon spoke again. "I'm just not sure what would get him to stop. Why is he even doing this?"

"IDK, bro" Benrey said "but he stole my hacks"

"Wait wait wait wait wait" Gordon said "Why the hell are you helping me? You tried to kill me before"

"Uhhh, not really. Yo, uh, you were suppose to turn on hacks too and fuck around. Friend." Benrey said, shrugging.

"Wait, I can turn on hacks?" Gordon said "Tell me how and I'll be able to defeat Tommy"

"Uhh, what?" Benrey said "Uhh, how about you gimme a kiss,, and I'll tell you"

Gordon groaned in frustration. Benrey was going to be no help, maybe even possibly a hindrance. Gordon stood up to pace around a bit to get the thinking fluid flowing. What did Tommy like? Why was Tommy doing this? It couldn't be the death thing, right? Maybe something happened to something Tommy loved. There couldn't be too much--he didn't have any family and he only has his love for soda, an immortal dog and an excellent aim. That's it! He got it!

"The dog!" Gordon said, stopping in his tracks.

"Huh, what?" Benrey said as Gordon trapped Benrey against the wall using his arms.

"You're gonna take me to where Sunkist is" Gordon said. Benrey tried to smooch him but Gordon recoiled.

"Uhh, sure, I guess" Benrey said. "But like, I don't have my hacks anymore and yo dick still out. Not that I'm complaining tho"

"What?" Gordon said, looking down. It was a lie. Gordon looked at Benrey and started walking away "You know what, if you're not gonna help I'm gonna find the dog myself"

"Uh wait, bro" Benrey said, appearing in front of Gordon after materalized out of the side of the wall "You're uhh too dumb to figure this out by yourself, heh, dipshit"

"How did you do that? I thought you didn't have hacks anymore." Gordon said, deadpan.

"Yeah, I don't," Benrey said, trailing behind Gordon. Gordon continued on looking for Sunkist. He checked his surroundings and recognized it as the floor where Benrey jumped him and took his arm.

"Are we there yet, feetman? Or did you get lost you, you little baby man"

"For the last time, it's Freeman, not fucking feetman" Gordon said, shooting Benrey in the face. Benrey looked at Gordon and replied, "feetman" their face now a bloody mound. They traversed the land quickly since Gordon had been here before and knew where to go. *It also helped that the majority of the US army soldiers were no longer present. They traveled in relative silence too, save for Benrey's jippy comments. Finally, they came across the flat looking dog.

"Sunkist," Gordon said before the dog scrambled off to a hiding place.

"Congrats, bro, you found the dog" Benrey said "Now what?"

"We have to get it back to Tommy"

"Uhh, what? Why?"

"Weren't you listening to the goddang plan?"

Gordon tried several times to chase the dog around but that didn't work. Sunkist was too fast and managed to zip around so fast Gordon couldn't even see him at times. Since the dog was immortal, Gordon tried to stop the dog with bullets but even that didn't work. After a bit, Gordon noted that Benrey was gone and silently cursed him. Continuing to chase the dog with various methods, it seemed it was impossible to find the dog.

"You got it yet, Feetman?" Benrey asked, sipping on a soda

"Why would you care? Where did you even go?" Gordon said despondently "The dog is too fast and we'll never get it back to Tommy."

Benrey took another long and loud slurp of the soda. Gordon whipped around and snatched it out of his hands.

"Where the fuck did you even get this from?" Gordon said.

"Uhh what?"

"The soda!"

"Oh yeah, uh, it is"

"Wait, that might be key" Gordon said, staring at the can. He remembered the absurd thing Tommy said about soda helping you see faster.

"What is?"

"Tommy said soda helps you see faster"

"Uhh, what?"

"Where's the rest of it? The soda"

Berney looked at Gordon confused and then started using their black mesa sweet voice. Gordon swatted the glowing orbs away.

"Bro, what the FUCK!" Benrey said, losing their cool for once.

"What the fuck is with you?" Gordon replied

"Uhh, that was the rest of the soda, bro"

"You're fucking kidding me" Gordon said, sitting down at the edge. Benrey looked at him and then looked at Sunkist. Benrey wanted to help but not really 'cause that would end the game sooner. Benrey made up their mind and snatched the soda can out of Gordon's hands and threw it. The dog brought it back like a game of fetch.

"Holy shit, you got the dog," Gordon said, abashed.

"I'm smarter than you, feetman" Benrey shrugged. The two continued on with Sunkist and made their way back to the portal room. The three walked back into the room where Tommy was spazzing out. Tommy didn't even resemble Tommy anymore. The lag and glitching got so bad that the majority of his face was covered in multiple displaced facial features and he had several limbs, some fused together.

"Hello, Gordon" Dr. Coomer said before getting knocked off a rock and into the water "Took you long enough"

"Tommy!" Gordon said, causing the monstracity to turn towards them. "It's okay, everything is okay now. We found Sunkist"

The glitching seemed to go down a bit as Tommy spotted Sunkist.

"Sunkist...." Tommy said, calming down. Tommy saw Gordon and the glitching kicked into overdrive. Gordon hid behind the rock again but it was destroyed by the laser Tommy had, leaving Gordon exposed to cover.

"Tommy!" Gordon gasped "Why are you doing this? We brought Sunkist back and everything! It should be fine now!"

"No!" Tommy said "It's not fine! I just wanted you and Sunkist and Benrey and all our friends to go to my birthday party! But now we're here, we're late and you, you! had to mess it up didn't you, Mr. Freeman"

"Birthday party??" Gordon said, shooting back "What does that have to do with anything!?"

"You don't care about us" Tommy retorted.

"I do, though. I care about you Tommy! Don't you remember all the times I brough soda and, uh, I got you that cool gun which you're now using against me" Gordon offered a weak and forced smile.

"Then, then, then, why did you leave us?" Tommy yelled, shooting at Gordon and actually hitting him. Gordon held his hand over the bullet wound on his arm, making his arm with the gun on it unusable due to the pain.

"FUCK" Gordon yelled, stumbling. Tommy's eyes widened and filled with concern.

"Mr. Freeman?" Tommy said, reaching his hand out slightly towards Gordon. "I'm scared, Mr. Gordon. I'm sorry. I don't mean to shoot at you. Fuck,,, fuck! I don't know how to stop..."

"Why is he saying that? He's attacking me and can't stop?" Gordon questioned the others.

"He's corrupted by anger" Dr. Coomer exclaimed from behind a rock he used as a shield.

"Corrupted? What the hell do you mean corrupt-" Bubby was cut off by the gunshot Gordon put for at Tommy with an external gun.

"Calm down, kid!" Gordon said "Everything will be okay"

"I'm not a, a fucking kid! I'm a scientist! And you aren't even listening to me, you're just, just shoot-shooting n shit" Tommy said. Gordon stood there, blood dripping into the red water, making a deeper red puddle around him. "Why didn't you check? Why didn't you check on us, Gordon, to see if we were okay? I thought, I thought we were friends."

Gordon looked at Tommy in horror as Tommy got closer and seemingly angerier. Gordon was unable to muster any words. Tommy brought his hands up basically trapping the group, his fingers as the bars to a cell. It finally dawned on Gordon that the cause of this outburst was when he left them behind after falling in the pit but Gordon still had to defeat Tommy to get him to stop.

"I thought I was going to die. I did die. I felt everything. I felt everything and it hurt so much. I thought you cared about us, Mr. Gordon. You hurt me. You hurt Dr. Coomer. You hurt Bubby. You even hurt Sunkist!" Tommy yelled. Gordon acted quick at this comment and saw his opportunity to shoot at Tommy, holding his arm wound to painfully shoot the gun. Perhaps to cripple him to the point of not fighting back as sort of a final blow.

"Bro, stop" Benrey said nonchalantly, blocking the gun shots with a sudden burst of orbs from his black mesa sweet voice.

"What are you doing?!" Gordon said, eye twitching

"Bro, it's not nice to shoot people" Benrey said, a hit of annoyance in his voice.

"Just whose side are you on?!"  
"Uhhh, haha, what?"

"Fine! I'll fight both of you if I have too!" Gordon said, shooting at Benrey.

"Bro, seriously" Benrey said, pulling out a knife and stabbing Gordon's arm "This is not nice, idiot"

"What the fUCK? Were we friends or were we not?"

"Uhh what? We're friends but Tommy is, is also my, uh, friend and I don't think you being a good friend to Tommy by hurting him, friend."


	5. Chapter 5

Gordon looked at Benrey in disbelief. Benrey looked back deadpan before making a kissy face towards Gordon. There was a bright light and Benrey was then blown away by the blast of the laser and practically disintegrated however Gordon remained relatively unscaved. Gordon looked at Tommy grow a horribly distorted look on his face in shock. The glitching started to go down and Tommy started to cry.

"Sunkist? Why did you do that?" Tommy said in utter disbelief. The dog whimpered, a gaping wound in its side. "Sunkist, why would you protect Mr. Freeman?"

Gordon looked at the dog and reached his hand out to pet it. Tommy, almost back to his original state, approached them slowly.

"I'm sorry Mr. Freeman," Tommy said, looking at Gordon with tired and apologetic eyes. "I just, everything was okay before you came along. Everything was going to be okay and we were all going to go to Chuck E Cheese for my birthday-"

Tommy stopped and sat down, knees pulled against his chest and face buried in his hands as Sunkist nuzzled against his leg, lying besides Tommy, somewhat encircling him. He reached down to pet the dog and looked at Gordon, teary eyed. The others approached the group.

"Oh dear, what are we going to do about you, Sunkist?" Tommy said, hugging the dog close.

"Bro, I got this," Benrey said, using his hacks to make the dog all better again. The group all looked at each other in silence. Tommy pulled Gordon and Sunkist into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Freeman. I don't know what came over me. I was just so scared." Tommy said

"I'm sorry too, Tommy" Gordon said, cringing at his mistake. "I'm sorry for not listening to you, this wasn't your fault. I'd honestly be pretty angry if you guys left me behind and I woke up alone in a creepy-ass place like this"

"Can I get a hug too?" Benrey said, holding their arms out. Gordon rolled his eyes and nodded. The group of scientists huddled in a gave a hug. Eventually, the group went to the portal Benrey opened to their next destination--Chuck E Cheese. Everyone stepped in besides Dr. Coomer and Gordon.

"Gordon, I've been meaning to ask you this." Dr. Coomer said "None of this is real, is it?"

Gordon looked at Dr. Coomer in surprise. Dr. Coomer looked at Gordon apologetically, his hands and abdomen coating in blood. It was obviously a fatal wound.

"What?" Gordon said "No, don't say that. You are real to me. You, Bubby, Tommy and even Benrey...You're all real"

Dr. Coomer gave Gordon a soft smile.

"We won't forget you" Dr. Coomer said, giving Gordon a pat on the shoulder. He turned to go into the portal. "And, enjoy the party"

There was a flash of light as Gordon and Dr. Coomer walked into the portal. Gordon opened his eyes to appear in a small bus, traveling through the stars at lightspeed. The gman was there.

"Where am I?" Gordon asked

"I must thank you, Mr. Freeman, for bringing my son, Tommy, relatively, uh relatively safely, to my predetermined destination"

"Wait, Tommy was your son? I thought he was an orphan?"

"He was, at one point. You see, Tommy isn't necessarily human or AI"

"Well, what is he?"

Gman looked at Gordon, wondering how much he should know about Tommy. Gman had found him crying in the facility, stuck inside a wall decades ago. To calm the anomaly to which Gman would later figure out to be a glitch, he handed the boy soda and took him by the hand, adopting him as his own. As time went on, Gman wasn't able to spend as much time with Tommy but Tommy had already come up with a solution to that and made a dog to accompany him. Gman was at least able to see the creation of the dog Tommy made and after Tommy saw that it worked, he gave Gman a hug to which Gman cracked a small yet proud smile while patting his son on the back. Gman, knowing this was one the last time he would see Tommy in person, left to pursue his job as the all-powerful in-between communicator in the game. Gordon deserved to know at least the basics, Gman reasoned. Gordon was the one, after all, Tommy had grown fond.

"He was a glitch that materialized out of nowhere one day, Dr. Freeman. I found him alone roaming the facility, and took him in. He's a smart scientist now, as you know. And most importantly, he is my son..I understand you have one too, Dr. Freeman."

"Yes." Gordon replied "I would like to get back to him as soon as possible"

"Very well," Gman said, straightening his tie "I do understand you had some,, bumps on the way here but don't worry, you're still invited to Tommy's birthday party at the restaurant Chuck E Cheese. I would appreciate it if you showed up since you are one of his favorite friends"

"What? Chuck E Cheese isn't a restaurant. It's a family entertainment place" Gordon exclaimed, calling Gman's buffing bullshit.

"Well, technically, you're both correct" A voice said behind Gordon. Gordon turned around to see Dr. Coomer to which Gman promptly shot.

"Well, Dr. Freeman. I think you should be going. You don't want to be late to the party" Gman said. Gordon walked through the gate and into the pizza parlor. He looked around and saw the scientists dancing on the stage with a spotlight and disco lights. Gordon joined in and showed off a couple of key dances. While taking a break and tapping his foot to the music, Benrey approached Gordon.

"Hey bro" Benrey said, holding a cup full of soda. "I didn't help you much so you struggled because you're not as good as a gamer as me. I just, uh, you were suppose to play PSN with me, like, forever"

"Yeah, okay" Gordon said, recognizing this was an attempt at an apology. A poor attempt but an attempt none of the less.

"You were getting really close to the end, like, without my help and I didn't want you to end the game so soon, idiot" Benrey said. Gordon nodded and forced a weak smile. Gman told Tommy the minions, Tommy's favorite character, were coming and Tommy got excited. After the fun, they all sat around a table and had pizza, cake and a more than healthy dosing of soda. Despite how fun the day was, the party finally came to an end as all good things did. Everyone said their goodbyes.

"Yo, uh, you still wanna leave" Benrey asked Gordon. Gordon nodded. "But like, why would you leave a place that doesn't suck? Like, we can do things so cool and like, spend time together, play videos and uhhh build things"

"I have my son waiting for me, Benrey. It's always good to have fun and play video games with your friends but eventually, we end up prioritizing other things. I enjoyed the time here, but now I'm going to have to move on" Gordon replied. He knew it was going to be fun and he did have his fair share of fun, despite it being a bit traumatizing.

"Bro, though, like, i'm sure Tommy would really want you here 'cause he likes mean people and you're a mean person. And like so would the others, like you here." Benrey clarified. "Not me though. I'm too cool for you, loser"

Gordon offered Benrey a soft smile. This was about as sincere the emotionally stunted security guard was going to get. Gordon decided to give Benrey what they had asked for the entire journey and gave Benrey a kiss on the helmet.

"Uh, what?" Benrey said, coughing on their own black mesa sweet voice and looking away. "Like, bro, that's a bit cringe and its even more cringe since you missed pretty badly. You, uh, have really bad gun aim no wonder you're a little, little gun baby man, with a gun hand"

Gordon ignored Benrey's "compliment" and went to say goodbye to the rest of the group. Gordon exited the building through the double doors of the pizzeria leaving them behind and heading towards another adventure since this adventure, although great, couldn't last forever.

"Can I have kiss too?" Tommy asked pointing to his face as Benrey swooned and swayed a bit, a dreamy expression on their face allowing his true emotions towards Gordon free.

"You've leveled up" Gordon said, giving Tommy a smooch on the cheek. Tommy smiled and took Benrey's arm, wrapping something around it. It was a friendship bracelet.

"Uh, bro, Birthdays are where you get presents from others though?" Benrey said.

"Yeah my gift from you is giving a gift to you. We're BFFs!" Tommy said and later went off to chase Sunkist around Chuck E Cheese. Benrey looked at the bracelet. Maybe there were friends here too and not only Gordon who had to leave. Benrey turned to Dr. Coomer who was happily fixing Bubby's tie. Bubby was soaked in red mountain dew, a classic gamer drink, with some splashed on his lab coat and some on the side of his face.

"Hello, Benrey :)" Bubby said, causing Dr. Coomer to turn "Just thought I'd have my fun before this thing ended"

Dr. Coomer pointed out that the balloons might be fun to destroy next and Bubby went off, gun in hand, smile on his face and murder on his mind.

"I'm aware," Dr. Coomer sighed, patting Benrey on the shoulder.

"Yeah?" Benrey said "Is he?"

"Bubby? Not fully to the extent of power, but he's got the basics down. Tommy choose to ignore it."

"How long?"

"I've had my suspicions. The whole surviving life-ending disasters seemed to justify it. How long have you known, my boi?"

"Since the start. I didn't wanna fight feetman not since he was nice and caught me from the ladder but, like, I had to. Tried stopping him so he'd stay forever"

"That was a foolish thing to do. You know, since it's a game, he would have to leave eventually.

"Maybe if I was a harder boss he wouldn't have ever left"

"I think you still put up a good fight. It was a nice ending. Besides, if it was too hard he would have turned off the game right then and there. At least he got to the ending."

"..."

"It's okay to move on, Benrey. We all do. You don't have to feel guilty about leaving those in your video games behind. We were here to make Gordon happy, make him laugh, and though it was hard, it makes the reward even better"

"Suppose so," Benrey said. The lights got dimmer and it was nearing the end.

"I would like to thank him one last time though. Gordon I mean. I don't think I'll ever forget him since he made such an impact"

"Yo, maybe leave him a message" Benrey said, almost in a demanding and pleading tone.

"Yeah, that's a good idea, I will," Dr. Coomer said, giving a soft smile. They looked at the surrounding area, now completely plain. Bubby, Tommy and Sunkist were with little detail. The two looked at them with certain uncertainty and approached the others, giving a hug.

"Oh, are we doing more hugs now?" Tommy said, smiling. Benrey nodded, huddling in and closing their eyes. Everyone was here now.

"You guys are, are my best friends." Tommy said happily, yawing a bit. "This was really fun"

The group remained like that as they slowly were the only things remaining in the center of a white void. Suddenly, they could move no more but they weren't planning too. The environment slowly faded to black. They weren't sure what was next, weren't sure if they would still have their memories or not but they accepted their fate and the end of the game.


End file.
